Gang-saw mill.



No.761,344. PATENYTED -Y 31,;1.904.- w. M. WILKIN. GANG SAW MILL.

APPLIGATION FILED APR.18. 1903.

N0 MODEL.

TH: NORRIS PETERS 00., mom-urns" WASHINGTON, n c.

Patented May 31, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM M. WILKIN, OF MOBILE, ALABAMA.

GANG-SAW MILL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 761,344, dated May 31,1904.

Application filed April 18, 1903. Serial No. 153,238. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern} a Be it known that I, WILLIAM M. VVILKIN, acitizen of the United States, residing at Mobile, in the county ofMobile and State of Alabama, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Gang-Saw Mills; and I do hereby declare the followingtobe a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as willenable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethe same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to theletters of reference marked thereon, forming part of this-specification.

My invention relates to gang-saw mills; and it consists, substantially,in certain new and improved features therein and the combinathem inquarter-sawing lumber and in sawing two small logs at the same time. Toovercome these difliculties, I construct each of the press-rolls of thegang with one or more annular V-shaped grooves, and on the center of thepress-roll yokes I mounta third roll provided with a V shaped groove, sothat the grooves in each of the rolls are adapted to engage the edge ofa quarter-sawed or the rounded upper surface of a small log, as the case-may be, and effectually prevent its tipping sidewise while passingunder the press-rolls and being sawed. To further contribute to thisresult, I place a cylinder across the front of the mill provided withcutters projecting up to the top of the feed-rolls of the mill, whichoperates as the quarter-log or round log is moved under the press-rollsand upon the feed-rolls of the mill to skive off the bottom of thequarter-log or log, so that when it passes upon the feed-rolls of themill this flattened surface rests upon and is engaged by them and servesto prevent the log or quarter-log from rolling thereon.

Another feature of my invention is'in the construction and combination,with the mill, of an improved log-feedway for carrying quarter-logs orlogs into the mill. v

The features of my invention are hereinafter fully set forth andexplained, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in Which vFigure 1 is a front end view in elevation of my improved gang-saw millwith the log-feedway removed. Fig. 2 is a sideview in elevation of thesame with sections of thelog-feed- 7 way. 7

In the drawings illustrating my invention, A is the frame of the mill, Bthe'saw-sash provided with saws b, C the crank-shaft, O

the driving-pulley thereon, DD the pitmencranks, D D the pitmenconnecting the pitmen-cranks D D with the saw-sash B, E thecounterweight-crank, E the counterweights swin in on arms E pivoted tosu ports 0' on the base of the frame A, e the counterweight-pitmen, F Fthe feed-rolls, and G G H H h h thefeed-roll-operating mechanism,

all of which are of the usual and ordinary construction.

On the edges ofthe frame A, I provide removable guides I I, upon which Imount pressroll yokes J J adapted to slide up and down freely thereon,and on rocking levers K, centrally pivoted in the press-roll yokes J, Imount auxiliary press-roll yokes] J J, moving freely up and down inrecesses in the main nular V-shaped grooves Z, adapted to engage theupper edges of different-sized quarterlogs, as illustrated in dottedlines in Fig. 1, so that both may be sawed at the same time. On

the center of the press-roll'yokes J, I also.

mount short press-rolls L, with a V-shaped peripheral groove thereinadapted to engage the upper edge of a larger quarter-sawed when thepress-roll 'yokes J are moved up, as is also illustrated by dotted linesin Fig. 1f, the object of the V-shap'ed grooves in the press-rolls beingto engage the upper edgesaor corners of quarter-logs, so that they will.be firmly held upright while being sawed.

For operating the press-roll yokes J J, I mount steam or compressed-aircylinders M in the base of the frame A, one on each side thereof, fromthe piston-rods m of which links m extend to arms a on rock-shafts N,mounted in the frame A below the plane of the feed-rolls F F, and fromthe arms a a on the rock-shaft links n extend up at each side of theframe A to studs [7' on the ends of the press-roll yokes J J, by meanswhereof the press-roll yokes J J and the mechanism thereon are actuatedby the pistons of the cylinders M M, as is shown in another applicationfiled herewith and pending therefor. At the front of the mill I mount atransverse cuttingcylinder 0, having cutters 0, preferably staggered, onthe periphery thereof which extend up to the plane of the tops of thefeed-rolls F F, and on the frame A under the pressrolls L L on the sameplane with the feedrolls F F, I mount an auxiliary feed-roll O, drivenby a sprocket-chain f from one of the feed-rolls F and adapted tosupport the end of the quarter-log or legs until they pass upon theregular feed-rolls F F. On the periphery of the feed-disk G, .I place aband-rim g, from which a belt g extends to a pulley O on the end of theshaft of the cylinder 0 and operates to drive the same. In the drawingsI have shown the bearings 9 of the cylinder 0 mounted on brackets P P onthe mill-frame; but it is obvious that, if desired, the bearings of thecylinder 0 may be mounted on suitable supports independent of themill-frame or on vertically adjustable supports on the millframe orotherwise, as the cylinder 0 will in either case perform its functionwith equal facilityviz. the skiving off of the under surface of thequarter-logs or of ordinary round logs, so that they will presentflattened bearing-surfaces to the feed-rolls F F, thereby preventingtheir rolling or tipping laterally thereon.

In front of the mill and of the cylinder 0, I secure a log feedwaycomprising trackstringers Q, secured upon foundations Q. The stringers Qare cut away on their upper surfaces back from the cylinder 0 asufficient distance to receive the wheels of the front logcar,hereinafter referred to. Upon the stringers Q, I secure rails R, so asto form a track eurvlng downward at the outer end 9 of the depressiontherein and curving upward at the opposite end (1 of said depression, soas to operate as a stop for the car-wheels and prevent the car fromcontacting with the cylinder 0. The log-cars operating on said tracks Rare ordinary trucks having transverse bearing-beams T and provided withflanged wheels 25, adapted to operate on the tracks R. In operation thequarter-logs or logs are loaded upon the trucks T T when standing on thelevel portion of the track R,-but with the end of the quarter-log orlogs next to the mill projecting some distance beyond the truckthereunder. The quarter-log or logs being then moved toward the mill,the cylinder 0 skives off the under surface of the front end. of thelog, as illustrated by dotted lines in Fig. 2, and when the end of thelog has passed upon the auxiliary feed roll 0' the front truck passesdown into the depression of the track and the log rests upon theauxiliary feed-roll O and the rear truck, when the press-rolls arebrought down upon it and it passes on upon the feed-rolls F F and is fedthrough the mill in the usual manner.

Having thus shown and described my invention, so as to enable others toconstruct and use the same, what I claim as new, and desire to secure byLetters Patent of the United States, is

' 1. In a gang-saw mill, the combination of a mill-frame, a saw-sash andmechanism for operating the same mounted in said frame, feed-rollsmounted in said frame, press-roll yokes mounted on guides on said frame,pressrolls having V-shaped annular grooves therein mounted in saidpress-roll yokes, a leveling cutter-head operating on the under surfaceof the log and actuating mechanism in the base of the mill-frameconnected with and operating the press-roll yokes, substantially as setforth.

2. In a gang-saw mill, the combination of a mill frame a saw -sash,counterbalanced mechanism operating said sash, feed rolls mounted insaid frame, press roll yokes mounted on guides on said frame, twopressrolls, having V shaped annular grooves, mounted in said press-rollyokes, a third and central V-shaped press-roll mounted on the center ofthe press-roll yoke, and actuating mechanism mounted in the base of themillframe, connected with and operating the pressroll yokes,substantially as set forth.

3. In a gang-saw mill, the combination of a mill-frame a saw-sashmounted therein, a main driving-shaft mounted in the base of themill-frame, pitmen-cranks therein, pitmen connecting said cranks withthe lower portion of the saw-sash, a eounterbalance-crank in said shaft,counterbalance-weights on arms pivoted to the base of the mill-frame, apitman connecting the counterbalance-crank with thecounterbalance-weights, feed-rolls mounted in the mill-frame, anauxiliary feed-roll mounted in the front of the mill-frame on the sameplane as the regular feed-rolls, pressroll yokes mounted on verticalguides on the mill-frame, press-rolls mounted therein, rockshaftsmounted in the mill-frame below the plane of the feed-rolls, linksconnecting the ends of the press-roll yokes with arms on saidrock-shafts, steam or compressed-air cylinders mounted in the base ofthe mill-frame, links connecting the piston-rods of said cylinders witharms on said rock-shafts, a transverse eylinder mounted in front of theidlerroll in the mill-frame, staggered cutters on said cylinder theperipheries of which are on IIO a plane with the tops of the feed-rolls,mechanism for actuating said cylinder, a log-feedway having a portion ofthe track thereof adjacent to the mill-frame depressed, and trucks onsaid feedway-track, substantially as set forth.

4. In a gang-saw mill, comprising substantially a mill-frame, a saw-sashand mechanism for operating the same, feed-rolls, press-roll mechanism,and a transverse cutter-cylinder in front of the mill-frame the top vofwhich is on a plane with the tops of the feed-rolls of the mill, alog-feedway, a track thereon having a portion of it adjacent to thecutter-cylinder depressed below the general planeof 15 *passage into andthrough the mill substan- 20 tially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affiX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM M. WILKIN.

Witnesses:

W. R. WILKIN, 4 WM. H. ARMBREOHT.

